Grassley was asked why he hadn’t looked for tests to make sure he was healthy, something that could protect his staff and other people close to him.
“All I can do is take the doctors’ advice,” Grassley said, adding later, “I’m talking about the advice the doctor (the vice president) made public only through his public comments.”
A Grassley aide, standing with the senator, also explained that if Pence – who was regularly tested – had the virus, the vice-president’s doctor would follow the procedures and contact the senator, which did not happen.
GOP senator Joni Ernst of Iowa also said it wasn’t going to be tested, “because I haven’t been with anyone who has it,” he said.
When asked if he has any doubts that the virus could spread from Pence’s press secretary to the vice president, he replies, “No, I don’t know.”
South Dakota Senator John Thune, the second-degree Republican leader, said it “would be a good expectation” that Grassley and Ernst could be tested immediately, but did not know when or if the member testing issue would be resolved. .
Thune said Ernst had told him that he had had no contact with people who had been turned away from Pence’s plane “with the exception of the vice president.”
Thune added: “I think from a test standpoint, there is good logic that if someone has been exposed in some way to someone who has it, yes, you have to test them.”
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